64,600 Welsh care home and personal care employees will receive a £500 payment to reward them for their hard work during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
Announced on 1 May 2020, the payment is part of the government’s £40 million plan to provide extra funding to support social care services.
Further details about the extra payment will be announced shortly, as the Welsh government is working with local authorities to finalise details. Additionally, the government is also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that this reward will not impact pension benefit entitlements.
Mark Drakeford, first minister of Wales, said: “Tens of thousands of people work in social care in Wales, looking after some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and are doing so with great dedication in often challenging circumstances.
“They are undertaking tasks, which involve a high level of intimate personal care, often accepting a greater degree of risk and responsibility. Many of our social care employees are juggling their own personal caring responsibilities with their professional ones.
“I want our social care workforce to know their hard work is both appreciated and recognised. This payment is designed to provide some further recognition of the value we attach to everything they are doing to – it recognises this group of people are providing the invisible scaffolding of services, which support both our NHS and our wider society.”